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Bike to Work Week

Want to save the environment and get some exercise while doing it, all on your way to work? Hop on a bike!

May 14-18 is Bike to Work Week, and if you sign up with Ozarks Greenways to leave your car behind for at least one day (walking, bussing, and carpooling count, too), you can enjoy free breakfast, free bus fare, and other perks throughout the week.

Check out the Library's collection of bike-related books, as well as some helpful web resources, for tips and inspiration on how to ditch the car for the week—or longer.

Bike to work guide: save gas, go green, get fit by Roni Sarig
Expert bikers Roni Sarig and Paul Dorn teach potential bikers the tips and tricks to traveling to and from work. From buying the right bike, to fueling the body, to road safety, this all-inclusive primer will get bikers on the road in no time.

Biking to work by Rory McMullan
A complete guide to make cycling to work a safe reality for the beginning cyclist. For those who live within cycling distance to commute to work, this book offers simple safety, bike buying, and gear buying tips, as well as ways to best plan your route to and from the office.

City cycling by Richard Ballantine
Cycling is fast, cheap, green, and healthy. Ballantine wrote the world-famous "Richard's bicycle book" and founded "Bicycle magazine." This book draws from his years of experience, offering tips and inspiration for cycling as an urban lifestyle.

Ride your way lean: the ultimate plan for burning fat and getting fit on a bike by Selene Yeager
Yeager provides readers with a comprehensive cycling plan that allows them to shed fat, streamline their bodies, and hone their skills on a bike. Cycling is gentle on the joints, easy to do with friends and family, and burns literally thousands of calories without being a bore or cause for suffering.

Urban cyclist's survival guide by James Rubin
Written for cycling enthusiasts who expect to run into vehicular traffic or urban traffic patterns anywhere in the world, this book is not limited to only cyclists in major cities. Observations from years of cycling the city streets of Chicago and Los Angeles inspired these solutions, and every tip, hint, trick, and tactic can be applied to cycling anywhere.

Bicycle repair manual by Chris Sidwells
This book is a comprehensive, practical guide to the essentials of bike maintenance, designed to teach the beginning cyclist how to perform basic tasks and the experienced cyclist how to carry out advanced repair techniques.

Bicycle technology: understanding the modern bicycle and its components by Rob Van der Plas
This book helps the interested cyclist select the best components and gives technical insights into the way they work. Essential background information for anyone interested in the technical aspects of the modern bike and its development throughout history. Illustrated with over 900 line drawings and photographs with clear explanatory captions.

Bike repair and maintenance for dummies by Dennis Bailey
By coupling step-by-step instructions and detailed photos and illustrations, this book gives readers the information they need to keep their bikes in working order, often without taking it to the shop.

The Biking Life: Memoirs and Musings

Around the world on two wheels: Annie Londonderry's extraordinary ride by Peter Zheutlin
Annie was a Jewish immigrant and working mother of three living in a Boston tenement with her husband, a peddler. This was as close to the American dream as she was likely to get -- until she became part of what one newspaper called "one of the most novel wagers ever made": a high-stakes bet between two wealthy merchants that a woman could not ride around the world on a bicycle.

Bicycle diaries by David Byrne
A renowned musician and visual artist presents an idiosyncratic behind-the-handlebars view of the world's cities. Since the early 1980s, David Byrne has been riding a bike as his principal means of transportation in New York City. Byrne's choice was made out of convenience rather than political motivation, but the more cities he saw from his bicycle, the more he became hooked on this mode of transport and the sense of liberation it provided.

Bicycling beyond the divide: two journeys into the West by Daryl Farmer
On a journey begun twenty years earlier, Daryl Farmer, a twenty-year-old two-time college dropout, did what lost men have so often done in this country: he headed west. Twenty years later and seventy pounds heavier, with the yellowing journals from that transformative five-thousand-mile bicycle trek in his pack, Farmer set out to retrace his path.

Cycling: philosophy for everyone: a philosophical tour de force edited by Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza and Michael W. Austin
This collection of essays explores the rich philosophical, cultural, and existential experiences that arise when two wheels are propelled by human energy. It incorporates the views of notable past-professional cyclists such as Lennard Zinn, Scott Tinley, and Lance Armstrong, and features contributions from the areas of cultural studies, kinesiology, literature, political science, and philosophy.

Pedaling revolution: how bikers are changing American cities by Jeff Mapes
A grassroots movement is carving out a niche for bicycles on city streets. Mapes, a long-time political reporter and bike commuter, explores the growth of bicycle advocacy and issues such as the environmental, safety, and health aspects of biking for short trips.

Local Resources

SpringBike - SpringBike is a Springfield-based group that hosts regular weeknight and longer group rides and strives to promote safe, enjoyable cycling for its members and community.

Bike Smart Springfield - This pamphlet, produced by the Sustainable Transportation Advocacy Resource Team of Ozark Greenways, includes information on how to get around Springfield by bike.

Ozarks Greenways - The Ozarks Greenways trails are an ever-growing network of walking and biking paths connecting urban and rural areas in Springfield and surrounding towns.

City Utilities' Transit System - Springfield’s bus system is affordable and goes all over town from early in the morning to late at night. Use the easy trip planner to figure out which bus you need to take, where you need to wait for it, and what time you need to leave.